Reviews by Cylinsier:

Pours a deep burgundy with a yellowish head, half an inch, which dissipates slowly to a lacing.

Smells of caramel, apples, figs, buttered bread and candi sugar.

Tests like buttered bread and molasses with some apple sweetness and mild cinnamon spice. Also some light hop bitterness and rich bready malts. Some yeast esters as well.

Full, thick body with sharp stings of carbonation on the roof of the mouth and a bit of booze numbness and warmth going down.

An interesting and potent ale, doesn't make any bones about its strength. This will sit you down and you know it from the first sip. Nice flavor and nose and enjoyable body. Would probably be a little more appealing if it contained its alcohol a little better in the mouthfeel, but otherwise a nice sipper. Would love to have this again.

More User Reviews:

First off I love what the beer stands for and the proceeds.Poured the corked 750 into an imperial nonic a deep rich amber with a thinner off white head atop.Deeply fruity in the nose,it really stuck out during the pour,more sweet alcohol and cakiness as the beer warms.It's a big sweet alcoholic beer that needs to rest,Iam drinking one now but I'll buy one and let it sit a year,alot of fruit,sweet caramel, and sweet alcohol with no hop profile.The body is thick and non carbonated.It's a big hot young malt bomb,as it ages I think it will get better,it's still pretty good now.

I've been holding on to this bottle for some time . . . One of the first I decided to "cellar." This one pours murky, brown wine, almost like a Belgian quad or a Belgian dark. Aroma is boozy, winey with dark fruits, and cinnamon. Taste is similar to regular Old Stock with more spices and dark fruits added . . . Grapes, dates, figs, raisins, pumpkin and maybe some caramel and nutmeg. Feel is surprisingly carbonated. I like the feel but think some won't expect or be impressed with it. Overall, worthy of its 87 rating and maybe just slighly underrated.

The first time I've ever seen Old Stock Ale with Japanese writing on the label with a note about the Otsuchi recovery fund dated March 2012. There's even a link to ostuchi.org I guess this is a recovery charity beer release from the tsunami in northern Japan. I've never seen Old Stock Ale in a 750 ml bottle, well it has arrived. Pours a deep copper crimson brown color with a light khaki cream head, filling my chalice. Aroma has toasted almonds, sweet sugar coated hops, dark fruits including raisins, plum, and tropical fruit (mango, pineapple, asian lychee (banana/pear). Arising tart quality and flowing malt qualities cover up the alcohol, mild earthy hop content. Flavor brings out the alcohol, this beer is young, it's April and I could lay this beer down for 5 years...did I mention that I'm going to buy a few more bottles. As the beer warms the alcohol level becomes more apparrent, flowing forth with a bit of tree bark resinous bitterness and sweet caramelized malt sugars, earthy/herbal bitterness units prolong each sip letting the palate and senses adjust to such a strong beer. The fruit noted in the initial smells is still evident yet it's competing with fresh big beer in this case old ale characteristics...caramel, alcohol, and English hop accents. Mouthfeel is big a bit cloying upon entry to the palate, with even carbonation and big malt characterisitics. Overall impression is decent beer that has great potential with age, enjoyed fresh but will be extraordinary with some age.

I'm actually a little surprised as I pour this beer, though admittedly it's because it's been so long since I had an Old Ale and I've forgotten how the color and thickness ranges. This one pours about medium orange but, once settled, it looks like cider: thick, very thick dark orange-brown. It's heavy-looking and completely opaque. The head is slightly darker than tan, developing a couple fingers on a hard pour but under one on a softer pour in a different glass. In each glass, though, the head's retention is good, as is the patching left behind.
The smell is rich, quite sweet but tempered as lots of malts give off plenty of dark fruits, plum, fig and raisin, as well as toffee/caramel and some grape must with some almost barley-like grains and a little booziness that isn't too fusel.
In the flavor, all the dark fruits are big as well, with molasses, toffee, caramel and brown sugar. There's a bit of tang from wine-like grape must notes. Up front are raisin and plum, maybe some banana, and raisin fills in the finish. The alcohol takes over more strongly in the taste than the smell.
The feel, a big, rich body that blurs the line between medium and full, takes on a thick sort of smoothness but with a sting to it, a little too much bite that isn't just crispness. It tends in the middle to sit thickly on the tongue, though it evens out at the end.

Looks warm and inviting as the dark, hazy chestnut liquid fills the glass. Thick and rich with an slightly yellowish head early on that eventually stands a finger thick with a creamy looking cap of bubbles. Average retention, finally succumbing and leaving a nice ring of bubbles around the edge.

Has a full malty nose, filled with dark ripe fruits. Not quite wine-like, just just an Earthy dark fruit (red apples, red grapes, raisins) scent.

Amazing taste, everything your nose picks up is there, along with some ABV. Very fruity, with a some caramel malts, and just the right amount of hops and alcohol (despite the high ABV) to keep everything in check. I'm not really sure how to make this taste any better.

A little bit sweet, full-bodied, only a skosh of bitter, but good heat from the alcohol in the throat. Nothing is too much, everything is just right.

Really a great beer for a great cause. This isn't something I could drink every night (I'm having it in a 750 ml bottle), but I could drink it every weekend. Not sure I've had many beers better than this.

Very nice malty smell up front and as the bottle sits some hoppy smell starts to come through. Pours sort of ruby red with nice head. Taste is decent but not as malty as I was expecting or hoping for. The back half of the taste is very boozy it seems to take over and burn out the taste. The more i drank the less taste of malt and hopes but it just became more and more bland. Overall not bad but its not completely balanced and the more I drank the rating for this beer went down. An OK old ale, there is better out there.

Sampled from the 12 fl. oz. bottle on June 18, 2012. The pour is mahogany brown with sparkling ruby red hues all over the glass. The head is beige and moderate. The aroma is alive with sweet barley malts and wood but it does not have the alcohol punchy aroma as many other young Barleywines that I have tried. The body falls into the medium range with a bit of astringent carbonation tickling the tongue. Whereas the aroma is on the subtle side the taste explodes with barley malts and dry hops and more alcohol than I would have liked. It ends dry. It would probably taste extraordinary a year from now but for now it is still very good.